---
title: 'RPM vs CPM on YouTube – Which One Actually Matters?'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ku8IqsyfrEU'
video_id: 'Ku8IqsyfrEU'
date: 2026-07-28
duration_sec: 385
---

# RPM vs CPM on YouTube – Which One Actually Matters?

> Source: [RPM vs CPM on YouTube – Which One Actually Matters?](https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ku8IqsyfrEU)

## Summary

YouTube has introduced RPM (Revenue Per Mille) as a new metric in the analytics dashboard, alongside the traditional CPM. RPM represents the actual earnings a creator receives after YouTube takes its cut from ads, Super Chats, stickers, and merch sales. Understanding RPM is crucial for creators to accurately gauge their true income per thousand views.

### Key Points

- **Introduction of RPM** [00:00] — YouTube added RPM to the analytics dashboard under revenue, alongside CPM, indicating its importance for creators to pay attention to.
- **Definition of RPM** [00:33] — RPM is what you actually earn from your channel, including revenue from ads, stickers, Super Chats, and merch sales after YouTube's cut.
- **Difference between CPM and RPM** [00:46] — CPM is the total revenue per thousand views before YouTube takes its share, while RPM is the net amount that hits your bank account.
- **YouTube's Revenue Share** [00:53] — YouTube typically takes 60-70% of the revenue, leaving creators with 30-40%, though established channels may negotiate a better split.
- **How RPM is Calculated** [01:24] — RPM includes all revenue streams (ads, Super Chats, stickers, merch) after YouTube's cut. For example, a $12-14 CPM might result in a $3-4 RPM.
- **Importance of RPM** [02:31] — RPM clarifies exactly what you earn, helping creators understand their true income per thousand views and make informed business decisions.
- **How to Increase RPM** [03:38] — Increase CPM by creating content in high-value niches (e.g., finance, business), avoid demonetization, and boost additional revenue streams like Super Chats and merch.
- **Boosting RPM with Sales** [04:51] — Selling merch or services outside YouTube's ecosystem avoids the platform's cut, directly increasing your earnings.

### Conclusion

RPM is a more accurate measure of a creator's earnings than CPM, as it reflects the net income after YouTube's revenue share. By focusing on high-CPM content and diversifying revenue streams, creators can boost their RPM and build a sustainable business.

## Transcript

what is rpm youtube has recently added
the new metric
into the dashboard under analytics under
revenue you'll see
the old-fashioned cpm and now
rpm rpm is new and rpm has been placed
there
because it's important for youtube in
some way shape or form
to teach you that that's why it's been
given such a high priority
normally when they do something like
this it's something that you need to pay
attention to just like when they moved
watch time
to the top and they started talking
about watch time more it meant that
there was focusing on
watch time more often rpm is what you
earn
from your channel this is exactly what
you get from the slice of the revenue of
every ad and every sticker and every
super chat
that is sent to you so how is this any
different to cpm well cpm
is your entire channel and the
advertisers
before youtube takes money away
from you when you sign up for an adsense
account you'll have a deal of around
about 35 to 40 percent
of the income the other 60 to 65 percent
maybe even up to 70 goes to youtube they
find the ads
they serve it against your specific
videos they take a large cut
you get 20 30 40 now the longer you've
been on the platform
and the more high priority your channel
happens to be you may get a better cut
of that cpm including things like super
chats
donations that kind of thing so how is
rpm calculated you get your adverts
and let's say it's a 70 30 split you get
your 30
of the revenue they take the rest if you
get a super chat
once again youtube takes their 70 just
to simplify it if you have a super
sticker
at some point during your super chat
thing then once again there goes the cut
and nowadays if you'll see below here
i've got a shelf of all of my
wonderful t-shirts and mug designs you
can get a start creating mug a start
creating t-shirt
leggings phone cases that kind of thing
all of those down there also have some
kind of
revenue share so rpm actually means what
you
earn from it all for example i might be
getting a 10 11 12
cpm so for every 1000 views in theory
my videos or my channel earns 12 13 14
bucks
but my rpm is what hits my bank account
in a month's time
so let's say my rpms are around about
four dollars
for every 1 000 views once youtube's
taken out all of their cats and my
t-shirts and my super chats and stuff
like that then
i would get that three four dollars was
youtube
makes the remaining seven eight nine
dollars from the rest of the cpm
why is rpm important well it's important
because it now clarifies
exactly what you earn for a very long
time you used to look at the cpm
and then kind of guess or you'd look at
your thousand views per month
and then you'd have a look at a figure
and then you'd realize okay
10 000 views gets me x amounts 100 000
views got me x amount and then you
started working out in your head that
that's your channel average and it would
go up when you got more views
that's why most people suggest that it's
maybe one two or three dollars per
thousand view when
truly it's not because if a video is
seen a thousand times it doesn't always
have adverts against it every single
time and if you're
doing live streams for example you're
sat there for three or four hours maybe
getting a load of channel donations then
you may not get thousands of thousands
of views but you might be getting
a good few super chats that boost that
as well so you've seen a creator get 50
quid in a super chat
but what that actually means is they
made a run about
25 bucks maybe less but for youtubers
it's very important to understand what
your rpm happens to be
especially if you're going to turn it
into a business so it can expand and you
understand
how much money you're putting in how
much you get out per thousand views
and then you can tweak it accordingly so
how could you
change this value how could you make
more money how could you raise your rpm
first of all
increase your cpm because the more
you're earning then you get a percentage
of that pie
the larger that piece of pie becomes
monetary value-wise
if you're creating content that's very
edgy that gets demonetized all the time
then
that's going to hurt you in the rpm
bracket but here i talk about business i
talk about money and i talk about
youtube so it's a
safer topic for them to place adverts
against against a slightly
higher cpm i tend to find the
entertainment stuff
so gaming and lifestyle gets a slightly
lower
cpm because it's common and there's
loads of it whilst if you're getting
very very specific and you're people
like graham steffen in which you're
talking very specifically about
tax and real estate and investment and
that kind of thing then
because you are a rarity they'll pay
slightly more
for it also you've got to think of the
companies that would advertise against
that
if i'm talking about finance then banks
and insurance companies are going to be
placing adverts against me banks
and insurance companies aren't going to
be placing adverts against me playing
with a kid's toy
because a toddler or a 10 year old
doesn't really want to buy
home insurance and life insurance that's
not the target market to increase your
rpm you can also look at sales
therefore the more t-shirts you buy the
better cut you might get
this is thinking on the youtube platform
in itself if obviously you sell stuff
outside the youtube ecosystem youtube
doesn't take a cut at all
so if you wanted to buy some thumbnail
templates for example or you want to use
any of my affiliate links there's links
down below where you can buy those kind
of things and you have those kind of
arrangements elsewhere or if you hire me
directly as some kind of coach then
i would not have to give youtube their
70
slice and you get an hour of my time for
example the rpm is only calculated on
the platform
here what they earn here what is
funneled through
youtube and adsense and spat out at the
other end but you can boost that by
selling more t-shirts or encouraging
more super chats you've got those funky
little stickers you can look for
donations you can figure out some way
that you can do a q a with them
super chatting you or you can do channel
audits some channels do that but once
again anything that comes through the
youtube platform will then be sliced
down into revenue shares which then
create their rpm but in theory if you've
only got a video that only has
adverts then that would have standard
cpm but if that video then also has
super chats
and merch sales then that will raise the
cpm
of that video and then overall the rpm
of that video because that video in
itself becomes more of a
sales magnet i hope that makes sense but
there are other ways that you can boost
cpm in fact i boosted my cpm like 10
fold
just by focusing on certain tweaks
there's a video here
that can help you with all of that go
and check it out i'll see you in the
next video